Badlands
Badlands was a Crimson Guardsman of the Third Induction and one of the so-called "Lost brothers". He was extraordinarily hairy with wild grizzled hair and ferociously scarred. His complexion was nut brown. He was as burly as a bear, and reminded Kyle of the men of the Stone Mountains to the far west of his lands.Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 1 Chapter 1, UK PB p.28 He was a master woodsman, who could move quickly and silently through the forest.Assail (novel), Chapter 8 He had exceptional endurance and was capable of running at a fast clip for several days with minimal rest.Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 1 Chapter 5, UK PB p.212 In Return of the Crimson Guard Seeing no future in their homeland, Badlands, Stalker, and Coots joined the Crimson Guard.Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 1 Chapter 5, UK PB p.233 Badlands was with the Guard when they besieged the warlock Shen's fortress atop the Spur in Bael.Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 1 Chapter 1 With the end of the Diaspora, Badlands' company returned to Stratem.Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 1 Chapter 4, UK PB p.148 After Kyle was falsely accused of murdering Stoop, Badlands, Stalker, and Coots volunteered to help track him down. They came upon Kyle three days later as he was about to be captured by Mara, one of the Guard mages. The three drove Mara off and introduced themselves as the "Lost brothers". They invited Kyle to join them as deserters, with Stalker saying, "We never really were cut out for this mercenary business."Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 1 Chapter 5, UK PB p.193-194 The Guard offered no more of a future than their homeland.Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 1 Chapter 5, UK PB p.233 The deserters found their way to the village of Canton's Landing on Stratem's west coast. There they were caught in the act of stealing a boat owned by Traveller and the Thel Akai Ereko. The six reached an agreement to travel together when Kyle stated that they were headed for the Dolmens of Tien on Jacuruku, a location he had heard mentioned by Skinner during the murder of Stoop, and which Ereko reacted strongly to.Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 2, Chapter 1, UK PB p.280 On Jacuruku, Badlands helped fend off the Yakshaka warriors of the Thaumaturgs as they tried to imprison Traveller.Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 2, Chapter 4, UK PB p.380-387 Then, at the Dolmens of Tien, he helped free the Crimson Guard leader K'azz D'Avore and witnessed Ereko's murder at the hands of Kallor.Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 2, Chapter 5, UK PB p.439 After a detour through Shadow where Traveller left their party, they arrived on Quon Tali just in time to join the Avowed for the Battle of the Plains. They helped a small contingent of the Guard bottleneck the pilgrim bridge south of the battlefield and kept twenty-nine thousand Kanese soldiers from assisting the Malazans.Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 3 Chapter 3, UK PB p.625-628 Afterwards Badlands declined K'azz D'avore's offer to return to the Guard. Instead the Lost brothers and Kyle took on Greymane and the Brethren spirit Stoop as travelling companions for parts unknown.Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 3 Chapter 4, UK PB p.672-674 In Stonewielder Badlands followed Greymane to Delanss where the Malazan renegade opened a fighting academy. Stalker and the other Lost brothers proved too rough as teachers, breaking bones and bloodying noses, so Greymane asked them to quit. The trio left Delanss by ship headed west.Stonewielder, Prologue, UK TPB p.31 In Assail Fisher kel Tath discovered Badlands and his brother, Coots, on Assail in a cave deep in the chasm guarded by Yrkki, the bonewright. They said they had had a falling out with their brother/cousin, Stalker, and were in no hurry to go home. Fisher convinced them to escape with him and the amnesiac Jethiss and head north back to the Lost family holding.Assail (novel), Chapter 7 Before they reached home, they came across a band of raiders besieging a small lowlander settlement protected behind a wooden palisade. The four men turned back the raiders, but Coots was killed by the settlers when they saw he was an Iceblood.Assail (novel), Chapter 8 Badlands was driven half crazy by the death of his brother. Kyle had trouble reconciling the now angry and murderous man with the friend he had known.Assail (novel), Chapter 12 Badlands helped protect Fisher, Kyle, and Cal-Brinn in their flight to the Salt Peaks by leading away the Kerluhm T'lan Imass that were pursuing them.Assail (novel), Chapter 14 Presumably, he later joined the new united clan of surviving Icebloods founded by Orman.Assail (novel), Epilogue Notes and references Category:Iceblood Category:Males Category:Crimson Guard members